Discontent
by Aiowyn
Summary: Usagi is perfectly content with her life until she runs into literally a dark haired man.


Discontent by Aiowyn  
Chapter 1

Usagi was content with her life. She had a loving family and close friends. School was going well in her opinion although her parents and teachers tended disagree on this point. She was satisfied with her performance and that's really all that matters. Even her love life was filled with contentment. Motoki was only her crush but she was satisfied with making goo-goo eyes at him while he worked at her favorite hang-out, the Crown Arcade. Yes, she was quite content with her life. If you were to ask her what her greatest wish would be at that particular point in her life, it would be that everything stayed just as it was, with comfortable predictability. Unfortunately one day that changed.

Usagi was walking from school to the Crown Arcade, grimacing at the piece of paper in her hand. This little piece of paper meant an hour of being yelled at by her mom and no dinner. Sick of looking at the thing that would soon cause her much grief she rolled it into a ball and tossed it over her shoulder.

"Ouch."

Usagi slowly turned around hoping that she hadn't been the cause of it. Her blues eyes were met with a matching pair albeit a slightly darker shade.

"Use a trash can next time, Odango Atama" Usagi turned bright red as her gaze remained locked with the man she had inadvertently hit.

"Don't call me that, baka!" she screeched in an effort to hide her embarrassment. "You shouldn't have been standing there." Eye contact was broken when the man glanced down at the piece of paper in his hand. Usagi eyes followed his and then watched in horror as the man uncrumpled her test paper.

"A thirty?" He remarked. "And you're calling me a baka?"

"Ooooo!" she squealed. Usagi ripped the paper from his hands and ran the rest of the way to the arcade. The man grinned at her retreating figure and continued on his way.

As soon as Usagi had entered the arcade she headed straight to the Sailor V game. She then began to play it in such a manner that gave Motoki and everyone else present cause for concern. Instead of simply pressing the buttons that controlled Sailor V, she slammed her fist down on them so hard that the sound of it made every single person in the very noisy and crowded arcade jump. Motoki cautiously approached the young blonde.

"...Usagi?" he said.

"What!" she snapped, whipping her head around to face the person who had interrupted her game. Usagi's eyes widened as she recognized Motoki. Mortified she quickly apologized. Motoki brushed off her apology, too happy that the game was safe to care about her rudeness.

"How about a chocolate shake?" Motoki said in an effort to prevent her from returning to the game before he was assured that her mental state had returned to normal.

Usagi eagerly agreed and before long was sitting at the counter with the largest shake she had ever seen, complete with whipped cream and a cherry. She was just about to dive in when she heard the voice of a man she had hoped to never see again.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you, Odango Atama"

"And why not, baka?" she snipped, refusing to turn around in fear of being trapped by his stormy blue eyes again.

"Because you'll ruin your figure and you'll need that because you certainly won't be able to rely upon your brain to get you through life."

"You are absolutely right." Usagi said.

"I am?" the man asked, confusion apparent in his eyes.

"I don't want to waste this shake though so I'll give it to you in gratitude for the wonderful advice." She said grinning. She grabbed her cup and turned to face him. She then proceeded to pour the largest shake she had ever seen all over him complete with whipped cream and a cherry. She giggled as he quickly took off his shirt. He wiped his face off on the few spots of his garment that weren't covered in milk shake. Usagi's laughter quickly faded as she gazed at his broad chest. He had the beginnings of six pack and his bare arms were muscular although not in an overbearing sort of way. Usagi absently wondered if he was a model because he certainly outshone all the men she had seen in her Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue. The man had long finished cleaning his face and watched Usagi with amusement as she stared at his body.

"Like what you see?" he teased. Usagi's eyes widened as she realized she had been caught.

She quickly retorted, "I was just noticing that you're the last person to be advising me on my figure. You've obviously have had too many shakes yourself. I only wish now that I hadn't wasted that one on you."

"Well, here. You can have it back." With that he tossed his milkshake covered shirt on Usagi's head. Usagi's face turned red again although this time in anger. She quickly pulled the black shirt off her but it was too late. Her face and hair were now covered with milkshake.

"Thanks ever so much. That was so kind of you. I hope this is your favorite shirt because now you'll never see it again." Usagi ran out of the arcade clutching the stolen shirt, hoping he wasn't going to chase her.

His eyes followed her as she left, once again being treated to the vision of her long legs running and her long blonde hair trailing behind her. Motoki groaned at the mess he now had to clean up. "Mamoru, why did she have to be the one girl you feel like pissing off? Anyone else and I probably would've ended up with a much cleaner floor" Mamoru just smiled enigmatically at him and asked if he had an extra shirt he could borrow.

Meanwhile Usagi had run straight to her house and up to her room. Only when her breathing calmed did she dare to peek out her window to make sure she had not been tailed. Relieved that the half-naked man was far from her, she plopped on her bed with a sigh.

Usagi stared at the wadded up shirt in her hands. She was unsure of what she should do with it. Her pride wouldn't allow her to return it to him, not that she'd be able to find him. She didn't feel quite right about throwing it out either. After a moments debate she decided to wash it until she could think of a proper future for it. Usagi popped it into the washing machine and then took a shower to clean herself of the shake as well. As the water fell down on her, Usagi's thoughts drifted to the mysterious man she had met. Despite her repeated attempts to remind herself what a horrible man he was, she spent more time thinking about his stormy blue eyes, broad chest, and his rich deep voice than his offenses. She replayed every moment she had spent with him over and over again in her mind, recalling his every word and expression. She surprised herself with the clarity with which she could remember every detail of their encounter. She was stunned out of her reverie by a banging on the door.

"Usagi, you've been in there for over an hour. I have to go." Her little brother, Shingo, whined through the door.

Usagi suddenly realized that the once hot water was now cold and her face was still sticky with milkshake. "Be out in a minute" she shouted as she quickly reached for the soap.

Usagi's distracted state lasted through the night. Her parents exchanged worried glances at the dinner table when Usagi picked at her food. Her normally voracious appetite seemingly depleted.

"Usagi, are you feeling alright?" Ikuko asked her daughter halfway through the meal. "Maybe you should skip school tomorrow."

"Huh? What? Oh. I'm fine Mom." She replied. Her absent-minded answer didn't abate her parents fears. After her mother felt Usagi's forehead she was at least satisfied that the cause of Usagi's listlessness was probably more emotional than physical.

After dinner Usagi and Shingo played video games as per normal. This night however instead of slaughtering her brother as she normally did, he killed her before she even knew what was happening. Shingo was overjoyed the first time it happened but after her twentieth death he began to grow bored at winning so easily and having his gloating fall on indifferent ears. It was at this moment that Ikuko entered the living room. She had found a black shirt that she didn't recognize in with the rest of the clothes she had taken out of the dryer.

"Kenji, did you buy a new shirt?" she asked her husband as she showed him the alien clothing.

"No." he looked at her confused.

"Shingo, is this yours?" Ikuko inquired. Usagi glanced at her mother when Shingo paused the game. She jumped up and grabbed the shirt from her mom.

"It's mine!" She yelled as she darted up the stairs. The two men of the Tsukino house stared after her, shocked at her sudden outburst. Ikuko just smiled knowingly as she noticed how pink her daughters cheeks were upon viewing the shirt. She wondered who the real owner of the mystery shirt was.

Usagi was once again panting in her room holding the black garment. "Ugh! You're more trouble than you're worth." she growled at it. She laid down on her bed and once again turned over the days events in her head. She sniffed the shirt, curious to see if the smell of milk and ice cream had faded away to be replaced by the smell of detergent. While the smell of the detergent she used was faintly present, there was a more overpowering smell of musk and roses that Usagi deduced must be from the owner of the shirt. She drifted off to sleep holding the shirt near her face as she wondered if the rose scent was from his cologne or detergent.

The next day, during her usual mad dash to school, she ran into something kind of hard but kind of soft too. She fell on top of it as it fell backwards from the force of her push. Usagi laid there for a second, relieved that she hadn't landed on concrete and enjoying the warmth from what she had landed on.

Th-thump Th-thump

Usagi forced herself up on her hands and knees as she realized that she had just heard a heartbeat that wasn't her own. Her eyes traveled up the chest her head had just been resting on, up the neck and pausing at the lips her own were now just inches away from. She licked her lips nervously as her gaze continued past the nose and stopped at the eyes. For the second time in two days, Usagi found herself drawn to a pair of stunning blue eyes.

"If you wanted me this badly you should've said something earlier. I could've made more appropriate arrangements."

Usagi jumped off the man and got back on to her feet. Mentally kicking herself for getting so distracted. Mamoru got up himself, brushing the dirt off his pants and jacket. "I should really notify the cops about you, Odango Atama, or else I'm going to end up in traction because of you." he said.

"Traction would be an improvement, baka." Usagi snorted. She turned to leave when he grabbed her elbow. Electricity raced through her arm. Surprised, she turned and found herself once again lost in his eyes.

"The name is Mamoru, not baka." he said staring at her intently. His expression serious, as if what he had just said was of great importance. Then, just as quickly as he had grabbed her arm, he released it. His lips once again in a mischievous smile that she had grown accustomed to seeing. "Maybe you're right. I'd be safe for six wonderful weeks. I doubt even you would hurt a man on crutches, Odango Atama."

"For you I might make in exception, Mamoru-baka. And my name is Usagi, not Odango Atama. U-SA-GI!"

"Bye O-DAN-GO." Mamoru said with a smirk. He then spun around and walked away from a very perturbed girl.

"And you called me dumb." Usagi muttered as she continued her dash to school, her arm still tingling from where he had touched her.

If you were to ask Usagi how her day in school had been, she would've said uneventful. That is, of course, if you had been able to get her to listen to the question. If you were to ask any of her classmates or teachers the same question, they would have responded very differently. Ms. Haruna, Usagi's homeroom and English teacher, would have told how she had to ask Usagi ten times what the past tense was for the verb "to be". She was only able to elicit a response from her by hitting her repeatedly on the head with a chalkboard eraser. She also would have told about how she received the pop quiz back from Usagi without a single answer written down, not even her name. Naru, Usagi's friend, would have told you about their trip to the bathroom in which Usagi realized that her hair was covered in chalk dust and her frantic attempt to rinse it out in the sink. Umino, the geekiest kid in the school, would have told you how he saw her with a icepack on her head, after hitting it too many times on the faucet. Everyone would have told you about her mother yelling at her just outside the school building after she had been called by the principal to pick up her daughter because the nurse thought Usagi might have given herself a concussion. Needless to say, it had been a very eventful day in school.

Ikuko continued the reprimands when they got into the car. She sighed when she noticed they were falling on deaf ears. When they reached the house, Usagi moved to go to her room. Ikuko grabbed her by the face and said, "Listen, I know you're in some tizzy over some boy but this needs to stop."

"B-boy?" Usagi sputtered. "W-what are you talking about?"

"I was okay with you dating before but you have to get your priorities straight. If he's going to interfere with your schoolwork and sanity that much them I'm afraid I'm going to have to forbid you from seeing him." she continued. "Now you march yourself straight upstairs this instant and do your homework and you better get an A on it tomorrow."

Usagi went upstairs and decided her mother was absolutely right. No more thoughts about that jerk. She was going to concentrate on her school work and the next time she happen to hit him with a test, it would have a ninety not a thirty on it. Filled with determination, she opened her bedroom door and her eyes immediately fell on Mamoru's shirt still lying on her bed. With a humph, she sat down at her desk and opened her algebra book. She pulled out her notebook and pencil and began to work on the first problem. She scratched her head in frustration as she tried to remember how she was supposed to solve the problem. Her eyes wandered her room as she racked her brain for the formula. Her eyes stopped at his shirt and her brain started wondering if his butt was as cute as the rest of him instead of what x equals.

"Usagi, you better be studying up there!" her mom shouted from the stairs.

"I am!" Usagi yelled back.

Resolute, she once again tried to focus on the problem in front of her. No matter how many times she tried though, she kept glancing back at the shirt. Annoyed at herself for the lack of progress, she decided to hide the shirt from sight. She shoved it into the top drawer of her dresser. Usagi went back to her desk satisfied that she was now relieved of distraction. Usagi was just about to begin work on the problem again when she realized she had stuck his shirt in her underwear drawer. Blushing, Usagi moved the shirt a drawer down, to her sock drawer. After returning to her desk again, she began to worry about the shirt becoming smelly from her socks. They were all clean but she couldn't help but worry that they would rob the shirt of it's intoxicating smell and if it ever ended up back in Mamoru's hands, she'd be mortified if it reeked of socks. Usagi decided the only way to calm her mind about the problem would be to put it in the drawer with her shirts. She was confident that it was the only sensible place to put it. After returning to the desk for what she hoped would be the final time, she once again set out to discover what x equals but once again, she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off that drawer.

"That's it." Usagi declared. "I am getting rid of that shirt."

Usagi grabbed it from the drawer and marched down the stairs and out the door, ignoring her mother's calls.

When Motoki saw Usagi march into the Crown Arcade, he knew he was in trouble. She looked just as enraged had yesterday and she was headed straight for him.

"Motoki, I am giving you this shirt." Usagi said.

Motoki grimaced as he recognized it from yesterday. "I don't think I should be the one you give it too." he said cautiously. "That's Mamoru's shirt."

"Well, then you can give it to him since you're such good friends that you can recognize his shirt." she replied.

Motoki was eager to stay out of their dispute lest he also end up with a face full of shake. "I really don't see him that often, Usagi."

Usagi slammed her head down on the counter. "Why must I continue to be haunted by this blasted thing." she said, disgusted. Usagi looked back up at Motoki with her best puppy dog face. "Couldn't you just keep it, Motoki? Please, I don't care what you do with it. You can throw it out if you like, Mamoru will never know." she pleaded.

Motoki quickly shook his head.

Usagi groaned. "Fine, I'll be over by the Sailor V game if you need me."

Motoki panicked. "Why don't you go give it to him yourself. I'll give you his address. Here." Motoki said while writing on a napkin.

Usagi eyed him suspiciously as she grabbed the napkin. "I thought you didn't see him that often."

Motoki laughed nervously and slowly backed away. "I, uh, have to go help some customers now. Bye."

Usagi stood in front of Mamoru's door trying to decide whether she should knock or just leave the shirt at his doorstep. Her decision was made for her. Mamoru opened his apartment door about to leave when he saw her. "Odango Atama."

Usagi scowled at his use of her unflattering nickname.

"Please, come in." he said.

Usagi tentatively walked inside. She was surprised to see how clean his apartment was, it was almost sterile.

"Would you like a drink or something?" Mamoru offered, his appointment forgotten.

"Sure, what do you have?"

"Coke or Water. Sorry, but no milkshakes."

"Ha ha. Aren't you funny?" Usagi said as she rolled her eyes. "A coke is fine."

Mamoru returned from the kitchen with two cokes and sat on the couch. He motioned for Usagi to do the same.

"So how exactly did you manage to get past the door man?" Mamoru inquired.

"I followed an elderly couple in." she replied.

"Oh."

The two sat there awhile in silence. Usagi looked around pretending the bland furnishings interested her greatly. Mamoru stared at her expectantly waiting for her to explain her presence. Usagi studied every dreary item in the room in great detail. Beginning with light fixture on the ceiling and ending with the tan carpet on the floor. In her study of the carpet her eyes fell upon a pair of black shoes. Almost unwilling her eyes followed the shoos upward to where they met with khaki pants. Her eyes continued to travel upwards, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she came upon the zipper and realized what it covered. The hue stayed on her cheeks as her eyes continued there journey and she remembered what lie underneath the brown shirt, eventually the eyes met with another pair of eyes and there they stopped.

Brrrring

Usagi and Mamoru both jumped. It took Mamoru a moment to come back to his senses. After the second ring, he slowly walked to his phone. Usagi watched curiously as he answered the phone.

"I'm very sorry, sir. I'll be right there." Mamoru said just before he hung up the phone. "Sorry to rush you out like this but I'm late for work." he told Usagi as hurried her to the door, locking it behind them. "I'll see you later, Odango Atama" he called as he ran down the hall to the stairs.

"It's USAGI! Baka!" Usagi walked to the elevator and pushed the down button. It was then she realized that she was still holding his shirt in her right hand. Usagi screamed in frustration, causing several of Mamoru's neighbor to peek out their doors at the commotion. Usagi grinned sheepishly and decided it might be best if she took the stairs.

Author's Notes: This is the first fanfic I have written in years. My otheres were failed attempts under different pen names. Please review, I'm anxious to know what people think and whether or not I should bother to finish the story, revise it, or start anew.


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